Vols Football: Predicting Top 5 Playmakers in 2014
5. Dillon Bates
The last name on this list may come as a surprise to Vol fans. It’s not potential All-SEC cornerback Cam Sutton or stud safety Brian Randolph. It’s not even one of the freshmen tight ends who likely will start in the beginning of 2014. If you thought Jalen Hurd was inexperienced, at least he was on campus in the spring and was able to practice with the team. Dillon Bates was still in high school at the time.
Dillon Bates, the son of Tennessee legend Bill Bates, comes in with absolutely no experience at the college level. Not even spring practices like 14 of his fellow 2014 signing class members. But that doesn’t mean he won’t have the chance to contribute immediately as a freshman.
The Vols will have to lean heavily on freshman in 2014, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the front seven of the defense. Six defensive linemen and two starting linebackers graduated after the 2013 season, leaving huge holes to fill for 2014.
To answer that challenge, Butch Jones and his assistants brought in a plethora of linemen and linebackers. While those linemen and linebackers will all have a chance to compete for playing time, none are as poised to land a starting job as Dillon Bates. With Curt Maggitt and Jakob Johnson moving to defensive end, the starting linebacker spot alongside A.J. Johnson has become a two-player battle between Bates and rising sophomore Jalen Reeves-Maybin.
While Reeves-Maybin may have the benefit of being in the program for a year, Bates possesses a winning pedigree, better size, and more pure linebacking skills than Reeves-Maybin. In 2013, Reeves-Maybin contributed on the special teams primarily, and he was responsible for blocking the punt against Georgia that resulted in a touchdown that sparked the Vols to a near upset. But as a linebacker, Reeves-Maybin still has a lot to learn. His highest ceiling in college may even be as a safety and not as a linebacker.
Technically, Tennessee’s defense is a 4-3 defense, which means it implements four defensive linemen, three linebackers, and four defensive backs in its default defensive scheme. In that ideal world, both Reeves-Maybin and Bates would likely start at the weak and strong-side linebacker spots opposite Johnson in the middle.
However, since most collegiate teams use spread offenses that like to use 4 and 5-wide receiver sets, the Vols stay in the nickel defense more than their base 4-3, which means they use only two linebackers and 5 defensive backs. This means Bates and Reeves-Maybin are essentially fighting for only one spot instead of settling into starting roles each.
The most wide open door for a freshman to start on defense is in that linebacker position opposite A.J. Johnson, and Dillon Bates has the skills and pedigree to win that job. Bates measures in at 6-3, 220 lbs, and he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. He has athleticism Tennessee hasn’t seen at the linebacker position in quite some time, and he has the potential to be one of the top playmakers on defense in 2014.